Common/Red-breasted Merganser - Rob Bielawski

ML138381081

Common/Red-breasted Merganser Mergus merganser/serrator

Report

Contributor

Date

Location

Stumpy Lake Natural Area
Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 36.7751193, -76.1606158
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

Both were females which was apparent at extreme distance by profile and visible orange heads. Flew up the lake directly towards me then over me against overcast skies just prior to 5pm. I couldn't pick out any field marks from my unfortunate viewing angle to get this to species (could not see chin, bill base, or coloration on underside due to darkness, even viewing from directly below). Shot two photos as a hail mary but both show nothing conclusive and are horridly backlit. They felt like Commons, though either species would be a good bird at this location, with only 2 Common records in eBird here and only 3 for Red-breasted. Frustrating miss; cropped but otherwise unedited photograph posted below to better illustrate the conditions of why the ID was impossible to secure.

Technical information

Model
Canon EOS REBEL T2i
ISO
800
Focal length
400 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire, auto
f-stop
f/10.0
Shutter speed
1/800 sec
Dimensions
5184 pixels x 3456 pixels
Original file size
4.31 MB